“And you assume it ishimthat I want?”
Lord, his head was spinning. “Isn’t it?”
“Well, if this is what you are hoping for in order to wriggle out of kissing me, then I hereby free you from all obligation inthat regard. No kiss. Not ever. Not in daylight. Not in moonlight. Not in rain or sleet or snow. You do not have to kiss me ever.”
Yes, he did have to kiss her. He had to kiss her because he loved her, and it was past time she knew it.
“Blessed saints, Eden. You are the most exasperating woman I have ever met. You also happen to be the most endearing. I do not care if you have freed me of the obligation to kiss you. It was never an obligation for me. You will have your moonlight kiss tonight.”
She frowned at him. “Do not concern yourself. I just told you I want to be kissed with love or not at all.”
He tucked a finger under her chin to tip it upward and keep her gaze firmly on his. “And I just told you that you will have your desired kiss.”
“A moonlight kiss? With love? From you?”
“A moonlight kiss. A daylight kiss. A million kisses,” he said in a husky murmur. “A kiss every morning and every night, and all of the hours in between if you will have me, Eden. Will you?”
There!
He had just proposed to her.
Dear heaven.
He had just proposed to Eden.
Gad, he hadn’t meant for it to happen this way.
This girl was in desperate need of romance, and he had planned to provide it tonight by way of a moonlight kiss followed by a marriage proposal.
Now everything was rushed and had come out backward. He had not even spoken to his mother or children yet about his remarrying. Well, his mother had contrived this house party for the sole purpose of pushing a new wife on him. Surely she could have no objections over his choosing Eden, since she had already accused him of immense stupidity in not seeing what was before his very eyes.
His children adored Eden and would cheer loudest upon learning he wanted to marry her. They would likely insist on having the wedding take place tomorrow, before he said or did something else idiotic to chase her away.
She was staring at him as though he had just spoken to her in a strange foreign tongue unheard for a thousand years. “Eden, will you?”
“Will I what, exactly?” She looked utterly confused, but his words had to be sinking in, because she was no longer sniffling and her lips were no longer trembling.
Was that the hint of a smile at the corners of her very kissable lips? Those beautiful, bow-shaped lips that were slightly pouty, slightly turned down at the corners, and slightly plump, so that they would feel deliciously soft as he sank his mouth onto hers, which was something he had ached to do for ages now.
“Will you marry me, Eden?” He’d said it again. How much clearer did he have to be?
Silence stretched between them.
Was she going to accept him or not?
What an idiot he was. He had not considered that she might refuse him. But she would if she was in love with Aubrey, even if that wretched man had dashed her hopes.
“Eden?” What was she waiting for?
Then he realized what else needed to be said, because this was Eden and love was the very thing she had been deprived of all of her life. This was the reason she had been crying her heart out moments earlier.
Love.
He cleared his suddenly tight throat. “I am not asking you to marry me because I find the situation most convenient. I can see how you might mistake it, considering how well you get along with my children and my mother.”
She nodded.
“In fact, my feelings for you are mostinconvenient. I had fallen into an easy routine and was comfortable living the life of a Silver Duke. I thought I had my heart securely protected behind thick walls, and for the most part, it was true. But I found I had no defense against you. Your beauty, your wit and charm, your kindness and intelligence. There is not one wall left standing because you have demolished them all. You conquered my heart quite some time ago, Eden. I simply did not know how to broach the subject with you. Sometimes it is hardest to be honest with those you care for most. But here it is now. I love you.”
